How many here do your own accounting?

[JuneC]

Just wondering if everyone has a CPA do their quarterly and end of year filings.  I found the worksheet for Part 3, lines 9 and 10 of the Federal Unemployment form 940 extremely confusing and poorly written.  The Instructions were worse.  I also could not find a single youtube video or step-by-step how-to anywhere on the net that was accurate.  I eventually figured out how to reconcile unemployment paid to the state with the federal requirement, but all help I could find online was completely wrong.

So do any of you do this work yourselves?

June

[byhammerandhand]

Yes, I have a CPA.   

I married her, paid for her to take tax training, sit for the Enrolled Agent's Exam (got a top 10 score nationally), college accounting courses, and CPA exam (passed first time).   She worked for H&R Block for a number of years, taught their tax classes, then went to work for a Public Accounting firm where she was their tax spet and finally went into corporate accounting  doing consolidated financial statement for the numerous subsidiaries (hoping she did not have to work 100 hours a week from mid-December through mid-April, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't)  We always laugh when we think that a few hundred thousand dollars plus or minus was substantially correct.

[baileyuph]

Do my own and I understand your questions about the form June.  Seems changes never end, leaves us looking for understanding of the forms, changes, and above all keeping very good records.

There is a benefit to paying the price and doing the taxes.  I believe it makes a better business manager. 

There is much more to being in business by purchasing a machine and a spool of thread.

Going through the tax forms and given the instructions (not) it clearly suggests the government hasn't thoght through all of the form requirements.

Doyle

[gene]

I am small enough to do my own with QB and tax software.

If I were to grow bigger I know a CPA who works only with small businesses that use QB. I would email an Administrator copy of my QB along with any personal documents (investments, etc.) and he does the taxes. Because QB does most of the work that he might otherwise have to do, such as data entry or sorting out the stuff in your shoe box, he has very reasonable rates.

gene

[kodydog]

One year we were very busy and decided to hire an accountant to do our taxes. She was a customer of ours. She was certified and taught classes at The Citadel in Charleston. She did our taxes we sent them off and every thing was good. Several months later Rose was going over the forms and noticed a big deduction missing. The depreciation on the van.

Every year since Rose does our taxes. She spends many hours doing the month to month bookwork. Then she spends more time looking up deductions to get our taxes lower. Every year its different and a lot of years congress will pass a "one time" type deduction that may only apply to your type business. Of course they don't advertise it so you really have to be on your toes. Rose is very meticulous including keeping a detailed mileage log on our delivery vehicle.

This brings me back to the accountant we hired. This time of year these folks are slammed. They are working overtime and pushing returns out as fast as they can. There is no way they can take the time to do the detailed work my wife does. Book keeping takes the most time and you don't want to pay CPA wages to do this part. If your too busy then hire a lower paid book keeper.

The folks I worked for never kept receipts. Never did inventory. Didn't keep books and did not keep a mileage log. I don't know where their accountant got his numbers. I would hate to be in their shoes if ever audited.

A lot of people think their off the hook if they hire an accountant and some how their return is wrong. They think the IRS will go after the CPA. Nope. There going after the name on the form.

[JuneC]

Yep, garbage in, garbage out.  If the numbers and data supplied are incorrect, what's the accountant to do about it?  He/she can only work with what they're given.  And they're not on the hook when the IRS comes knocking.  However, if they really screwed it up and you could prove it was their fault, I suppose you could sue them for malpractice. 

I just hope this year's personal returns aren't awful since it's all over the news that there's going to be no help at all from the IRS.  They expect to field something like less than 30% of the calls they get and they'll only answer the most basic of questions.  The whole organization, IMHO, is on a path to implode.  When people find out they don't have the budget to do audits and chase down small "cheats" or those who don't file at all, more people are going to skip filing, resulting in less tax collected.  Death spiral....

June

[baileyuph]

Yes, often there is difficulty getting answers from the IRS to questions that come up.  These questions often come up due to changes they make and offer little or no clarity.

There are so many issues that come up, a return, especially for a business that there is considerable that instructions do not cover.  For example, business depreciation (property) has changed from 20 to 40 years as the write off period.  This has happened over time, but not only does the 40 years reduce yearly write off, should one sell during the period, the government can come back and retrieve taxes on prior year write offs. 

Then, to add to the tax reports is the SS taxes, how they are paid (via quarterly estimates for example).  Screw up on that and owe later, can lead to penalty.  Then, what one can write off against retirement (some form that is - deferred or?) has to be handled properly.

You are obviously right in the government being short on auditors but if one thing is found, then bet your boots that they will start digging deeper. 

One case around here was picked up on a business, they were paying cash for workers and did that get to be a big probe.

So, concluding, one can hire a CPA but thoroughness of their work is usually predicated
on the accuracy and sufficiency of data submitted.  All of this keeps a filing person/company in a harness of keeping up and informed with often insufficient goverment support. 

It just grinds my (whatever) when I see how the taxes we workers/business pay is wasted when paying so much with so little help and the long hours of producing the profits on which it is paid.  You come to have a certain opinion about social programs!

Off the box,

Doyle